pit_amor wrote:WOW! GOOD POST! Great info to think about. I thought the food I was feeding my dogs was a good brand, vet recommended n all. Geez!I guess I'm going to either make their meals myself or switch to a higher quality brand. I guess you can't trust some brands.My friend thats a veternarian told me to try nutro which is what my dogs are on. He also has my moms dog on science diet. I'm gonna have to give him a call monday morning.

Also check out the book called "Foods Pets Die For" - I forget the author's name off the top of my head - excellent read, though a bit dry in some portions, but it has some excellent information pertaining to many unpublished recalls, etc.

Thanks, sure will check it out. I'm glad you argued me into doing that research yesterday! Gotta hand it u ya. Your were right.

pit_amor wrote:WOW! GOOD POST! Great info to think about. I thought the food I was feeding my dogs was a good brand, vet recommended n all. Geez!I guess I'm going to either make their meals myself or switch to a higher quality brand. I guess you can't trust some brands.My friend thats a veternarian told me to try nutro which is what my dogs are on. He also has my moms dog on science diet. I'm gonna have to give him a call monday morning.

Also check out the book called "Foods Pets Die For" - I forget the author's name off the top of my head - excellent read, though a bit dry in some portions, but it has some excellent information pertaining to many unpublished recalls, etc.

Thanks, sure will check it out. I'm glad you argued me into doing that research yesterday! Gotta hand it u ya. Your were right.

Ah, the pleasure was all mine. It was a good rousing game of who's will was stronger.

i followed one of the links and its says to give meat with bone and organs. i had asked someone once and they said veggies have to be included. so some chicken legs anf gizzards could be a good meal? I need help....Thanks

johanns wrote:i followed one of the links and its says to give meat with bone and organs. i had asked someone once and they said veggies have to be included. so some chicken legs anf gizzards could be a good meal? I need help....Thanks

I work at a natural food pet store, that sells numerous human grade safe pet foods. On a daily basis I have to explain the gruesome truth about several mainstream pet products and its effects on their companion animals. Its really sad.

And from my experience the cost of feeding my dogs better food is about the same as feeding them less than desirable food.

jhicken wrote:I’m a skeptical reader, so when I read such inflammatory stuff like this, a red flag goes up. I don’t run around with my head in the clouds thinking my government will protect us from everything but in some cases it does a decent job. If your typical off the shelf dog food was laced with such toxic ingredients as the author might have you believe, how can our dogs possibly survive? Like so much biased journalism, just pepper a few potentially feasible facts into your argument and most folks will buy the whole thing.

The article states:

“95 percent of the food fed to these treasured creatures is made up of materials that are unfit for human consumption and contain little nutritional value”

and:

“a toxic brew containing diseased and contaminated meat from slaughterhouses, animal heads, toenails, chicken feathers, feet and beaks. It also includes dead animals picked up from the nation's roads, rancid kitchen grease and frying oil from the nation's kitchens, and millions of pounds of dead animals from the country's animal hospitals and shelters”

and:

“The pet food industry is unregulated by government bodies. An organization called the Association of American Feed Control Officials sets the standards. Its membership includes a few state agency representatives, but it is mostly run by commercial pet food industry workers.”

All this is contrary to the information contained on the FDA’s site regarding pet food.

The FDA has a special branch called the “Center for Veterinary Medicine” which regulates animal drugs, medicated feeds, food additives and feed ingredients, including pet foods.

The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requires that pet foods, like human foods, be pure and wholesome, safe to eat, produced under sanitary conditions, contain no harmful substances, and be truthfully labeled.

As for “by-products” or “meals”, as humans we willingly eat hot dogs and a myriad of other processed foods that contain chicken heads, hooves, teeth, bones, gizzards and a lot of the other “by-products”.

An interesting note about “by-products”, the protein quality is sometimes better than that from regular meat

Also “fish oil” is a nutritional supplement. Omega fatty acids are also good for you.

The author also states:

“The city of Los Angeles sends 200 tons of euthanized cats and dogs to West Coast Rendering plant every month. This is just from the city's animal shelters and does not include animals from private veterinarians.”

And then states:

“A common drug found in the rendering brew is phenobarbital, commonly used to euthanize sick animals. The American Journal of Veterinary Research did a study in 1985 that showed there was virtually no degradation of this drug during the typical rendering process and that measurable quantities of it remain present in the rendered material used for pet foods and for feeding cattle destined for human consumption.”

This leads the reader to believe that euthanized dogs and cats may be the reason for low levels if penobarbital in pet food. More proof of the nasty stuff we are feeding our dogs.

But, according to the FDA testing done in 1998 and again in 2000, there wasn’t the presence of either dog or cat DNA in the food they tested. The trace was attributed to potentially euthanized cattle or horses. It also goes on to state that the level of penobarbital was below any potential harm to dogs

Now I’m not stating that the typical stuff you buy in a grocery store is the best stuff you can give your dog, but we are hardly “Killing Our Pets with Every Meal”

On last observation I’d be concerned about, this article is published by a pet food company. This might be considered a conflict of interest.

-jeffrey

Agreed! While I think it is great that we are questioning what we feed our fur-kids, because it clearly shows that we care about them and their well-being, all of this "no corn!" "no grain!" "No by-products!" stuff is getting a little out of hand in my opinion. I fed my dogs Orijen for years and all it got me was a 9 year old dog with elevated kidney values. They were gassy as all get-out and I didn't find that they did any better on that food than any other I had tried.

Personally, the only person I will trust to give me advice on what to feed my dog is my veterinarian. They did go to school for 7+ years after all to learn what is best for our pets. I feed medi-cal preventive to my young guy and Hills j/d to my senior lady and they both are doing great. There is alot of information out there that can make you feel like a "bad" dog owner for not buying the $80 bag of food.

AllisonPibbleLvr wrote:Agreed! While I think it is great that we are questioning what we feed our fur-kids, because it clearly shows that we care about them and their well-being, all of this "no corn!" "no grain!" "No by-products!" stuff is getting a little out of hand in my opinion. I fed my dogs Orijen for years and all it got me was a 9 year old dog with elevated kidney values. They were gassy as all get-out and I didn't find that they did any better on that food than any other I had tried.

Personally, the only person I will trust to give me advice on what to feed my dog is my veterinarian. They did go to school for 7+ years after all to learn what is best for our pets. I feed medi-cal preventive to my young guy and Hills j/d to my senior lady and they both are doing great. There is alot of information out there that can make you feel like a "bad" dog owner for not buying the $80 bag of food.

Any vet will tell you they did not learn "much" about nutrition during their 7+ years at veterinarian school. SD also uses rendered meats. Which is what this topic was originally about. Corn and grain are an entire other subject and are usually related to allergies. IMO if there is any market willing to take downed cattle, rendered meats, and old slaughters there is going to be people who buy it because it is cheap and available, which SD is (doesn't make anyone a bad person). But what is up to debate is how healthy it really is, even if your vet recommended it I would still question the food. What it is, is just better for your dog in specific. But I am sure if you looked far enough you could find a food that worked just as well with out all the rendering.

As for protein from by-products being better protein than from regular meats this made me a little sick. I would like to see proof of a dog eating only by-product protein (beaks, feather, nails, bones, eyeballs) compared to a dog who has the option to eat muscle protein and certain organ by-product proteins. I do not think a dog who is only eating whatever is in animal by-product meal would thrive as well as a dog eating whole turkey or whole chicken.

Rendered meat is rendered meat, no matter where it comes from. I'd rather feed my dog a food that is fresh and whole and know that is is, than a food thats protein was dead for any long amount of time before it was processed.